


Advice From A Ghost

by Sweets_Thief



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Fluffy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 20:24:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8547910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweets_Thief/pseuds/Sweets_Thief
Summary: Fergus and Gilmore don't exactly see eye to eye over marriage, but they don't have to worry because they both have someone looking out for them that gives the best advice.
or
Fergus and Gilmore hallucinate about their dead brother/friend after an argument.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Mine and Kyle's ([Kaieru](http://kaieru.tumblr.com/) on Tumlbr and [Ouji ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ouji) on AO3) shared Warden Aedan is too nice for his own good, and would definitely come back from beyond the grave to solve arguments if he could :L (go check out his work btw he's awesome)
> 
> I love Fergus/Gilmore and it needs more on AO3 and I am here to fix this /o/
> 
> Gilmore doesn't have a canon name but we (me and Kyle) settled on Arthur, we thought it fit.

 

If there was one thing Fergus liked about Gilmore it was his no-nonsense attitude to the nobles that hounded the Teyrn for help with every little problem. Fergus would have been rude to them if Gilmore had not been at his side. Why they didn’t go to the King with their problems was beyond Fergus. Alistair had a lot more scope to deal with their problems, but Denerim was further away than Highever and Alistair already had more problems than he needed, having nobles adding stupid requests to those would have been too much.

So Fergus sat in what once had been his father’s chair, as noble after noble approached, gave a long winded oath of loyalty to him that Fergus knew was as shallow as his wine cup and then presented their problems.

“People are afraid to come and work on my farms after the problems with Darkspawn but that was years ago!” A Bann was saying now as Fergus tried to make it look like he was paying attention. “The Warden Commander dealt with the Darkspawn problems but people say my land is cursed by them. My fields grow food and raise animals just as well as anyone else’s but without someone to man them alongside myself I’m running out of options. Can you help me, Teyrn Cousland?”

Fergus shifted in his chair and Gilmore looked across the room at him with his eyebrows raised, and his arms folded. He was stood on the balcony across the room, out of the eye line of everyone but Fergus and from there he had been signing to Fergus what his responses should be.

“I will do my best to get…burly...oh, men! I will do my best to get men working on your fields.” Fergus began, “I will…nail up…squares that will ask people if they want…good…heartfelt – no, honest! – work with yourself for money.”

“My Lord?” The Bann asked, confused by Fergus’ words. Gilmore was laughing silently on the balcony and Fergus felt the urge to throttle him. The Knight purposely signed in a difficult way so it was hard for Fergus to guess what he meant, leaving him trying to rearrange his speech to make sense after his first comments.

“Highever is bustling with men looking for honest work,” Fergus clarified. “I will have my men hang up notices for you that you are looking for men to work your farms, and that the pay they receive will be generous. If any further efforts are needed I will give them a down payment of their wages before they start working for you.”

“Thank you!” The Bann cried, “Thank you Teyrn Cousland! I knew you could help!”

“That will be all the requests dealt with for today, my Lord.” A guard announced as the Bann left the room.

Fergus sighed in relief and slumped in the chair. Gilmore disappeared from the balcony and reappeared a few minutes later in the main hall. He was still grinning, ducking to avoid the shoe Fergus threw at him as he approached the dais the Teyrn was sat on.

“You always make me look like such a fool.” Fergus complained.

“I’m sorry, I keep forgetting how dumb you actually are.” Gilmore teased. The guards left the room, assuming correctly that Fergus would want some privacy now he had a moment with Gilmore. As soon as they were alone the Teyrn pulled Gilmore into his lap.

“Why don’t you just sit down here with me? Give answers with me? Prompt me with words instead of stupid charade movements?” The Teyrn asked, nuzzling Gilmore’s neck and leaving a soft kiss as he pulled back.

“No one is going to take advice from me, I’m just a Knight.” Gilmore chuckled, wrapping an arm around Fergus’ shoulders for balance. “You’re the Teyrn, everyone wants to hear from you.”

“This would all be solved if you’d marry me.” Fergus grumped, burying his face in Gilmore’s shoulder. He noticed how tense the other man went under him at the suggestion and his own stomach went tight when he realised what he had said. They had only discussed marriage once and the outcome had been that it was most likely not going to happen and both Fergus and Gilmore had accepted that.

“You…want to get married?” Gilmore asked, his voice calm despite how tense he was.

“Well…you know...it’s an option right?” Fergus mumbled, his face going red. Gilmore’s breathing hitched a little and Fergus nearly kicked himself.

“I…I didn’t think it would be.” Gilmore finally said, “You said early on that…it was too difficult to consider.”

“Well time has passed y’know? I’ve healed as much as I can do.” Fergus admitted, trying to keep his tone light, “And I don’t think that Oriana would want me to avoid marriage for the rest of my life if I wanted to do it,”

“And do you?” Gilmore pressed, standing off Fergus’ lap and keeping his back to him. His hands were curled into fists and his voice was shaking. “Or is it just because you want me to run the Teyrnship for you?”

“Might be part of it?” Fergus grinned, hoping that Gilmore would take hold of the humour but it seemed to have the opposite effect. His grin faded as Gilmore began walking towards the door. “Arthur?”

“I have to get back to training the soldiers.” Gilmore responded, “And I’m sure you have work to do as well, my Lord.”

Fergus watched the other man go with a strange feeling rising in his chest. He should have known it wasn’t something to joke about but it usually helped break the tension between them. Gilmore had respected that Fergus found marriage painful to talk about, and had agreed that it wasn’t something they needed to do because they knew they loved each other. And yet here he was bringing it up out of the blue, like a fool. It was easy for him to discuss it, Fergus mused, because he’d been considering marriage for a while and what that would mean for them, and for his feelings towards Oriana and Oren. He’d already adopted a son, Devin, and Gilmore had been really involved in raising him, so they were already basically a family. So the next step was logical for Fergus. But for Gilmore it was not.

“Maker, Aedan I wish you were here.” Fergus sighed, “You always knew what to do in these situations.”

Silence greeted him but Fergus felt calmed just by “talking” to Aedan. Even without his brother able to reply Fergus knew him so well that he could imagine his responses and it was easy to fall into a mock conversation for him. Closing his eyes, Fergus found it easy to imagine Aedan standing in front of him, arms folded, unimpressed but ready to help.

“So you’re saying that doing a really public proposal to prove to him that I really want to get married is a bad idea?” Fergus chuckled drily, opening his eyes and staring at his brother.

Aedan frowned and shook his head.

“Romance has never really been my strong suit.” Fergus said, “But you know, Arthur is worth the effort. So was Oriana, and she seemed to really enjoy my efforts.”

Aedan smiled this time and nodded. He never spoke when Fergus imagined him like this, but he didn’t need to. His “presence” enough was calming to Fergus.

“I need to tell him what’s changed. And find out how he feels. And apologise. A lot.” Fergus decided. Aedan nodded again, moving forward and placing both his hands on Fergus’ shoulders – or just above. “He wasn’t wrong though, I do have work to do. I’ll talk to him later when I know exactly what to say. Let’s go.”

Aedan’s smile turned sad and he moved back from Fergus. Blinking, Fergus’s vision of his brother disappeared and left the Teyrn alone. Aedan couldn’t go anywhere with him, but just being able to talk about his feelings and pretend Aedan was there was good enough for Fergus to get on with the rest of his day.

//

Gilmore stood watching the new recruits train. Highever was constantly receiving men that wanted to join their army. From those that had grown up on tales of the Hero of Ferelden and the treachery of Howe to those that had lived through it as children and wanted to be able to protect their family and loved ones from anything bad in the future. Gilmore trained them, although the injuries that he had received during Howe’s attack on Highever meant he couldn’t fight with as much ease as he had used to.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aedan appear, a flicker of movement that was so familiar to him it didn’t startle him. Closing his eyes and massaging his temples, Gilmore hoped the vision would be gone when he looked again, but in his heart he knew it wouldn’t be. It was something he always did when he fought with Fergus, imagined Aedan there so he could talk to him, figure out his feelings and Fergus’ true intention, and then fix the mess left behind. Aedan never spoke, he was just an emotional outlet for Gilmore and he had long since stopped asking himself why.

“It’s becoming far too frequent that I see you, Aedan.” Gilmore murmured. He gave an order for the recruits to carry on with their drills before walking off to give himself some privacy. “It’s bad this time isn’t it?” He asked as he drew level with Aedan. “I know he doesn’t mean to hurt when he’s so sporadic but…he does.”

Aedan seemed to sigh softly before making a few gestures with his hands. It was a code the two had created when they were younger, allowing them to communicate secretly without drawing much attention to themselves.

“He’s a big idiot, I’ll agree with you there. I overreacted, I know I did, but it’s just…I’ve wanted to marry him for so long, since I was a teenager I’m sure, but I respected the fact that us marrying might cause friction with him because of Oriana. I’m still surprised we even have anything together, after so long of telling myself that there was nothing between us.”

Aedan nodded and smiled sympathetically. He stepped closer and his hand hovered over Gilmore’s shoulder, comforting him despite not quite just touching him.

“I seem ungrateful I guess, like I don’t want to marry him but I do.” Gilmore continued. “I have for so long. I’d love to marry him. It was unfair to tell him he only wanted to marry me just so I could run Highever.”

Nodding vigorously, Aedan made a few more hand gestures, causing Gilmore to laugh.

“I already run Highever regardless of marriage, is that true? I know Fergus has probably been considering his views towards marriage for a while but you think he’d learn some tact. He was the same with Oriana. She was so offended by his proposal because it was so out of the blue and didn’t follow any of the proper procedures. She loved him for it though. I love him for it now. Thank you Aedan, I always feel better talking to you.”

Aedan shook his head and offered one last smile. As Gilmore turned back to the recruits he was gone. _Is he really a figment of my imagination,_ Gilmore wondered, _or is he here to actually guide us?_ He’d never given much thoughts to spirits but it wasn’t something he was going to admit to Fergus. He didn’t want to upset the Teyrn, or give him any false hope that Aedan was haunting them. The irony of Aedan being a ghost when the boy had been terrified of him made Gilmore laugh as he reached the recruits again and cast a critical eye over them to see if they were improving. He would seek out Fergus later and apologise, and no doubt the Teyrn would apologise as well. Aedan was probably watching them and thinking what idiots they were, even as he looked on them fondly.

//

Gilmore wasn’t expecting to find Fergus pacing their shared room nervously, hands behind his back and still dressed up from his day of meeting nobles. If Gilmore was honest he had been expecting a public proposal because Fergus would assume this was a good way of showing Gilmore he was completely seriously. Maybe he wasn’t the only Aedan appeared to, Gilmore mused wryly.

“Arthur!” Fergus exclaimed, his tone excited and nervous at the same time. He nearly tripped over himself as he stumbled forward to him. Gilmore was leaning heavily against the doorframe, tired and pained from a long day. “Are you okay? Sit down, sit down!”

Sinking into a chair gratefully Gilmore stretched his legs and sighed. He was wearing partial armour, to set an example to the new recruits that they always had to be prepared, and Fergus knelt down to help him out of it. Gilmore let his hands card through Fergus’ hair gently, giving the Teyrn pause and causing him to look up.

“I’m sorry Fergus,” Gilmore said quietly, “I overreacted.”

“No I don’t think you did.” Fergus disagreed, “I didn’t think of how it would make you feel to randomly propose to you. Not even properly as well. And to make light of it. I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“Oh I’m used to it,” The Knight chuckled, “You barely think before you speak.”

“I wasn’t even expecting to say it, it just slipped out.” Fergus admitted sheepishly. “I have been thinking about it, about the possibility of it and how much I wanted to do it. I should have brought it up with you first as an idea and discussed it instead of just blurting it out. I love you, Arthur. I want to marry you. And not just so you can rule Highever in my stead.” From a back pocket Fergus produced a ring. It was the Mac Eanraig signet ring, given to Fergus by Eleanor to give to his marriage partner. He had never given it to Oriana, as he had studied Antivan tradition and found out they didn’t use engagement rings. The ring had never been used. Gilmore held his breath. He knew the importance of this ring both to Fergus and to Ferelden society, knew the meaning and the weight behind Fergus using it as a proposal. For Gilmore to wear this ring was basically admitting to Ferelden and other noble societies that he was engaged to Fergus, and had been accepted into the Mac Eanraig family, and the Cousland family as well.

As Fergus opened his mouth to ask the question, Gilmore held a finger up to his lips. Looking confused, Fergus met Gilmore’s eyes and remained quiet.

“Is this really what you want? You’re not…you’re not just doing this because you messed up before?” Gilmore asked, his voice low.

Putting the ring aside Fergus took both of Gilmore’s hands in his own, kissing the palms gently before he answered. “I wouldn’t do anything like that to you Arthur. I know I messed up before by saying it out of the blue like that, but…I really have been thinking about it. I don’t want to have to hide this anymore because there’s nothing ‘official’ between us. I want to shove it down everyone’s throats and have you by my side when I do official functions. I want to know that I chose to stay by your side for the rest of my life with this ring on your finger. And I want to be able to drag a garter belt off your thigh with my teeth and then ravage you.”

Gilmore smirked. “Yeah because you’re used to ravaging me?”

“It’ll be my wedding night; you can humour me.” Fergus pouted playfully. He took the ring up again and turned it over and over in his hands. “Mother was upset when I told her I wasn’t going to be using the ring for Oriana, even though she accepted I was going to follow Antivan tradition. Well, sort of. You would have known that though. She’d be glad to see it used now. Even more so I think if she knew I was using it with you.”

“Your mother did like me.” Gilmore agreed, “Probably because I was always with Aedan. There’s something I need to tell you before you ask me this question Fergus.”

“Whatever you say you’re not going to change my mind.” Fergus said determinedly. “But I’m listening.”

Shaking his head Gilmore glanced up at the ceiling as if trying to decide what to say. Fergus waited patiently.

“I’ve loved you for years. Since I was a teenager really, though I was getting into my ‘young adult’ years I suppose. I used to dream that we could get together one day, get married and live together. I knew there was no way, you were going to be the Teyrn of Highever one day and you couldn’t just marry a soldier. But I always had this dream. It was painful to constantly have to tell myself that it wasn’t going to happen and yet live close to you all the time. Especially when you got married but I was so happy for you as well. All I wanted was for you to be happy.” Pausing for breath, Gilmore shifted in the chair.  
“Sometimes I still ask myself whether this is real. Are we actually together? Do we actually have a future? I know we do and it is paranoia because of the years of telling myself there was no chance, but I don’t know, I have a feeling I’m about to wake up and this was all a dream.”

Fergus kissed him suddenly, fiercely, arms wrapping around Gilmore tightly and pulling him as flush against his body as Gilmore’s armour would allow. When he drew back Gilmore could see the passion and the love burning in Fergus’ green eyes.

“This isn’t a dream. I know I shouldn’t have mentioned it so suddenly but this is all I want.” The Teyrn said firmly, “I love you Arthur. I want to marry you. I want you to be able to wake up and think…no to know that this is your life. That you are married to me, that it isn’t just a dream you thought up while watching me move on with someone else! This is going to be between us. Arthur Gilmore, will you marry me?”

The question was asked with such passion it almost stole Gilmore’s breath, and Fergus didn’t give a chance to answer straight away, pulling him back in for another kiss. They stayed close together after break apart this time, foreheads resting together, and Fergus’ fingers gently traced Gilmore’s lips.

“I will.” Gilmore whispered, “I will marry you.”

The look on Fergus’ face said he could have jumped up and cheered with joy, but instead he pulled Gilmore in for a tight hug, unlacing the straps of his armour chest plate as he did and pulling it away. The angle was rather awkward but they remained in each other’s arms, Fergus deftly slipping the signet ring onto Gilmore’s finger. It fit him well enough, if not a bit big, but there was time to get that sorted out. All that mattered now was the truth of it. They were getting married. Gilmore had dreamed of this for so long and now it was finally coming true. As Fergus whispered sweet nothings in his ear and led him over to the bed so he could finish undressing him Gilmore felt his heart swell.

It would be an extravagant affair and the planning would be a long and hard process. But that could all come later. Fighting back the tears of happiness Gilmore threw himself at Fergus, knocking the Teyrn back onto the floor and kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing will ever convince me that Gilmore and Fergus are not huge idiots who mess with each other and mess up all the time :L but love each other too


End file.
